Ocean Racing Club of Victoria
Steb Fisher

ORCV_IconLR

Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)
Ocean Race of 1885 nautical miles
 
Race Start is off Portsea Pier at Slack Water, Port Phillip Heads.
 
Category:
 
 
1+
 
Description:
Held every four years from 2006, this is Australia's longest Category One race and starts on the first Sunday in July. It was conceived as an idyllic way to escape the Southern Winter and often attracts a strong two-handed division of racers. The race always has a Humanitarian Aid component attached to it and there is a container with medical, school and apparel supplies that accompanies the fleet to Vila. Please see the Notice of Race on this website for the specific starting time.

Entries Closing soon for the Vanuatu Race and Rally.

Latest entrants for the event are “Myuna” and “Alive”.
Myuna , a Cavalier 37 from Sandringham Yacht Club, owned by Geoff Nixon has a long history of ocean racing and cruising and will join the Rally division.
Alive is a Reichel Pugh 66 recently purchased by Phillip Turner from Tasmania and in hot form with some great results in the Brisbane to Gladstone Race. A welcome addition to the racing division!
You can still escape the chills of winter and enjoy the race or rally to Paradise! Enter HERE.

2014 Vanuatu International Protocols Seminar

Held on Tuesday 18 March, 2014

Tuesday evening’s seminar at HBYC completed another piece of the jigsaw in preparation for the Melbourne to Vanuatu international ocean yacht race, with presentations from:

  • Australian Department of Agriculture on everything you need to know about Quarantine when departing and arriving in Australia by yacht;
  • Australian Customs and Border Protection Service regarding Customs and Immigration procedures required when departing and returning to Australia by yacht;
  • ORCV International Flag Protocls, mooring at designated Quarantine buoys or pens when arriving at port from another country and Important Upcoming Dates.

The Department of Argiculture and Customs have been very supportive of ORCV training programs for our long distance ocean races to Osaka and Vanuatu and we thank them again for thier ongoing assistance. We are in the process of requesting permission from these organisations to display their presentations.  Meanwhile, you can access the ORCV presentation HERE.


Answers to some important issues and questions raised on the night:

Customs

  • Customs Phone Number for notifying Customs no later than 96 hours before arrival is +61 3 9244 8973.
  • Customs FAQ for Yachts http://www.customs.gov.au/faq/Yachts.asp.  This FAQ states you MUST notify Customs and Border Protection of your arrival no earlier than ten (10) days and no later than ninety-six (96) hours before your arrival.
  • Customs Form B333 for Departure and Arrival (even though the Form is headed Smallcraft Arrival Report) which was included in Customs packs handed out at the seminar http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/b333.pdf

 

Department of Argiculture - Quarantine

  • Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture's Import Conditions database – ICON. http://www.daff.gov.au/biosecurity/import/icon-icd. If you are not sure about bringing certain items back into Australia, the ICON database is a simple and convenient way to access information about Australian import conditions for more than 20,000 plant, animal, microbial, mineral and human commodities. It can be used to determine if a commodity intended for import to Australia needs a quarantine permit and/or treatment or if there are any other quarantine prerequisites.

 

Confirmation of Race Start Date

  • The Vanuatu Race and Rally start will remain as stated in the Notices of Race and Notice of Rally: 0900hrs Sunday 29th June 2014.  A suggestion was raised regarding the possibility of postponing the Race and Rally start, so as to coincide with yachts arriving in time to celebrate Vanuatu’s Independence Day on 25 July, 2014.  As some entrants have made prior arrangements, no changes to the scheduled start date will be made.

 

Insurance

  • If you are looking for cover for the event we are aware that some members have had very good experience with competitive offshore insurance coverage from Pantaenius. 


Upcoming Vanuatu Seminars and other Training Events

Note the topics for the next two Vanuatu seminars have been swapped around but the dates remain the same!

Seminars and other Training dates

Important Dates

2014 Vanuatu Seminar: International Protocols Reminder

Don't forget to attend the Vanuatu Race Seminar Tuesday 18th March 2014, 7.30pm at Hobsons Bay Yacht Club. Come and hear about International Protocols from Australian Customs and Border Protection Services and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (formerly AQIS).

All you need to know about Customs Clearance, Small vessel departure and arrivals and Quarantine protocols.

Register now at  http://www.orcv.org.au/index.php/calendar/event-list

Melbourne to Vanuatu Ocean Yacht Race

The ORCV ocean yacht race from Melbourne to Port Vila, Vanuatu is a 1,885nm Category 1 which starts off Portsea, Melbourne Victoria, inside Port Phillip Bay, proceeds across Bass Strait and the Southern Pacific Ocean, around New Caledonia to the finish at Port Vila, Efate Island, Vanuatu.

The Vanuatu archipelago of 83 islands is a truly beautiful part of the world and after Past ORCV Commodore George Shaw visited there on a cruise, an ocean race, the Melbourne to Vanuatu, was proposed to introduce other sailors to this paradise on Earth. As a result, in 2006 the ORCV held the inaugural Melbourne to Vanuatu Ocean Yacht Race – and what a race it was! There are still people talking about it at various clubs now.

The race was successfully run again in 2010 and now it is all happening again with the 2014 Melbourne to Vanuatu Ocean Yacht Race starting at 0900 hours on 29 June, 2014.  In 2014 a Rally division has been introduced.  This race presents some unique tactical and navigational challenges, including when to tranist the South East Australian current, through the "Horse Latitudes" an into the South Easterly Trade Winds.

To help participants prepare themselves, the ORCV conduct an extensive set of seminars covering all aspects of such long distance racing. Topics covered included areas such as Health, Provisioning, Repairs, SAR, Salvage and Customs and Quarantine.

orcv logo reversed

3 Aquatic Drive, Albert Park VIC 3206 Ph. 0493 102 744 E. orcv@orcv.org.au